Chelsea news and transfers recap- Romero red card, VAR drama, Palmer penalty, Jackson goal - football.london Chelsea

Catch all the latest Chelsea headlines, including updates on Romelu Lukaku, Victor Osimhen and tonight's Premier League clash with Tottenham

It's Monday and Chelsea are back in Premier League action tonight. The Blues will make the short trip to Tottenham Hotspur later today looking to earn a vital three points.

Mauricio Pochettino is returning to north London after leaving the club in 2019. It will be the first time the Argentine visits his former side after being dismissed in November 2019.

With no action for the west Londoners over the weekend, transfer talk has continued to accelerate. Strikers remain at the forefront of the talk with Brentford's Ivan Toney strongly linked.

However, reports on Sunday claimed that Todd Boehly is prepared to apply pressure to sign Victor Osimhen from Napoli. Whatever happens, it's bound to be another busy transfer window in January.

With that said, make sure to keep the blog on lock as we bring you all the latest Chelsea news as it breaks.

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Tom Coley

Player ratingsIt wasn't easy and it was certainly eventful but Chelsea came away with a win in Mauricio Pochettino's return to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Nicolas Jackson's hat-trick secured a 4-1 win but it was far from that easy.

It was a dramatic first half that unfolded where VAR almost felt as impactful as anyone on the pitch. Still, the sides went in at the break with a goal apiece, albeit Spurs a man down following Cristian Romero's red card.

Destiny Udogie was then given his marching orders in the second half as Chelsea laid siege to their rival's net and found Guglielmo Vicario standing in their way time and again.

Tom Coley

3-1 Game over, Nic Jackson bags and everyone can relax.

Tom Coley

Neville on *that* first halfGary Neville believes that Tottenham could have had two of their defenders sent off in the first half against Chelsea before Cristian Romero was then shown a red card after a frantic opening 30 minutes. The home side were dominant in the opening 15 minutes and went ahead early via a deflected Dejan Kulusevski strike.

Son Heung-min thought he had doubled the lead soon after but saw his goal ruled out for offside. Things then descended in anarchy.

Tom Coley

Romero redfootball.london writes: Tottenham star Cristian Romero has been sent off for a foul on Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez. Just minutes later, Micky van de Ven suffered a hamstring injury and had to be withdrawn.

The Argentine defender's tackle was reviewed by VAR after Moises Caicedo had a goal disallowed. Romero is now facing a three-match suspension which would see him miss fixtures against Wolves, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Ange Postecoglou reacted to the red card by bringing on Eric Dier for Brennan Johnson after Cole Palmer converted from the penalty spot for the Blues. Now, the Spurs boss has lost his other starting centre-back with Emerson Royal being brought on in Van de Ven's place.

James Maddison has also been taken off after injuring his ankle, with Postecoglou clearly in no mood to risk his star midfielder. In a 20-minute spell, Spurs now find themselves in a tricky position as they look to go on and win the game.

Tom Coley

Here's just a few things that have happenedMauricio Pochettino was given a good reception by Tottenham fans as he returned to the club that he had great success with for the first time. The current Chelsea manager had spoken in the build up to the game about not expecting a warm welcome back to north London but was greeted by several claps from the home supporters.

"Of course [I've had a good welcome], at the moment yes because there are very few people in the stadium," he joked ahead of the match. "I think it's very good to come back after four years it's really emotional night."

A little catch upOkay, it's been mental at Tottenham.

As I write this Chelsea are 2-1 up but that really means absolutely nothing right now.

Tom Coley

Pochettino on James I hope he is fully back and can give us the full 90 minutes, but we will see, because of course in the Carabao Cup, playing against Blackburn, he could only give us one hour.

We will see if today can be longer."

Tom Coley

Follow the gameAll eyes will be on Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday evening as Mauricio Pochettino makes his long-awaited return to N17 four years on from his dismissal as Spurs boss.

Whereas Spurs have started the season on fire and can move back to the summit of the league table this evening if they claim all three points, Pochettino and Chelsea have endured a rather mixed start to the campaign.

It promises to be quite the occasion in north London as the sides contest for the bragging rights from the London derby clash.

Tottenham correspondents Alasdair Gold and Rob Guest along with Chelsea correspondent Scott Trotter are covering the match with all the build-up and the action as it happens on the pitch and reaction from the supporters and media.

Click here for all of our latest updates from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham take on Chelsea in the Premier League on Monday eveningTom Coley

Team out nowSanchez; James, Disasi, Silva, Colwill; Fernandez, Gallagher, Caicedo; Palmer, Jackson, Sterling

Tom Coley

Early team news!Reports suggest that Reece James is starting for Chelsea and that Mykhailo Mudryk will be on the bench.

Pochettino priorityThis evening sees Chelsea and Tottenham go head-to-head for the first time this season in the Premier League. When the fixtures are announced in the summer, the Blues taking on Spurs is always one of the first ones supporters look out for.

The match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium sees two teams take on each other after having very contrasting starts to their seasons. Spurs are absolutely flying under new manager Ange Postecoglou and will return to the top of the Premier League table should they collect all three points tonight.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are sitting in 13th place after an underwhelming beginning to life under Mauricio Pochettino. A lack of goals has been the overriding problem for the Blues thus far this term, with plenty of chances being created in Pochettino's setup, but a lack of clinical touch in the final third.

In fact, according to research conducted by Soccerment, Chelsea have a 14.04 xG in their opening 10 matches of the Premier League season, which is only just lower than Tottenham's 14.7 xG. But Spurs have scored nine more goals than the Blues in the opening stages of the season.

Unwanted record to breakChelsea are yet to score in the final 15 minutes plus stoppage time in the Premier League this season with Mauricio Pochettino's side continuing to struggle in front of goal.

Last Saturday's early kick-off had shown the many problems Chelsea have faced this season as they struggled to break Brentford down, with the Bees snatching two goals in the second half to take home an important victory. The Blues conceded in the 58th minute to Ethan Pinnock's powerful header, and then with Robert Sanchez in Brentford's penalty box looking for an equaliser, Neal Maupay raced away and gifted Bryan Mbeumo an easy finish, in the 96th minute.

That was the fourth time Chelsea conceded in the final 15 minutes plus stoppage time, a feat that Pochettino has not seen his side do. Ten games into the season Chelsea have yet to beat a goalkeeper after the clock has hit the 75th minute, which has been a factor in the Blues' underwhelming start.

Rudiger jibeFormer Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger has sent a reminder to Tottenham of the stranglehold that his previous side have held over them in recent meetings as the two sides go head-to-head on Monday night. The German has won 10 of his 13 games against Spurs in his career, nearly double the amount of victories he has over any other team.

After signing for Antonio Conte during his time at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2017 he only came out on the losing side of matches between Chelsea and Spurs three times with seven wins in nine league games. The 30-year-old also used to take great pleasure in scoring against Tottenham as he helped knock them out of the 2021/22 Carabao Cup as well as getting in on the act in his last trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Early team news hintBenoit Badiashile, Thiago Silva and Cole Palmer have each dropped an early team news hint ahead of Chelsea's clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night. The trio have posted pre-match infographic previews of the respective Instagram stories which, historically, suggests that they will be involved in some capacity.

Enzo Fernandez has already suggested that he could also be involved after posting something similar to his Instagram story in the morning. While it wouldn't come as a surprise to see Silva and Palmer keep their place in the Blues starting lineup, it may to some to see Badiashile, who has only recently returned from injury.

The 22-year-old defender, who enjoyed an excellent vein of form towards the end of last season, is still yet to feature for Chelsea in the Premier League this term. Badiashile has been nursing a hamstring issue which he suffered in training over the summer.

Andy Myers departsChelsea have confirmed that loan player technical coach Andy Myers has left his role at the club in order to join Joe Edwards at Milwall as part of his backroom team.

Edwards, who had a prominent role in the coaching team at Stamford Bridge under Frank Lampard, was confirmed in his first senior management role earlier this week.

More on this to follow.

Mbappe told to stay at PSG...Samir Nasri has encouraged Kylian Mbappe to stay at Paris Saint-Germain. The 24-year-old forward, who sees his contract in the French capital expire at the end of the season, has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League recently.

"If he leaves, it will leave a hole, but with the budget, they will be able to recruit other players - who will not be Mbappe, that is clear," the former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder told JDD, as quoted by French publication Le10Sport. "But today, he has such importance, whether in the French team or with his club.

"Already two years ago, I said he was the best player in the world. I still think so. He is from the Paris region. I, in his place, I would stay at PSG, instead of going to Madrid, to win the 50th Champions League for Real. If [Marseille] had been owned by Qatar when I was at the club, I would never have left. I think it is better to be the king in your village."

Jake Stokes

Pochettino's biggest challenge...Chelsea have only conceded three goals in the first half of Premier League games this term but have let in eight in the second period. It does indeed show a deterioration as games progress for Chelsea - something they really need to work on.

And a bad omen for Chelsea could be Tottenham's performance in front of goal in the second half of games under Ange Postecoglou. Spurs have scored 64% of their goals in the Premier League this season in the second period of games, with 14 netted in the final 45 minutes compared to eight in the first.

The London derby against Tottenham will be one of the toughest challenges for Pochettino at Chelsea yet but he can take some encouragement that two of the side's strongest performances this season have come when playing the top teams in the Premier League like Liverpool and Arsenal.

Jake Stokes

Toney told to snub ArsenalTroy Deeney has explained why Ivan Toney should snub Arsenal in favour of Chelsea. In a column for The Sun, the former Watford striker said: "My advice to him would be to join a project where you fit like a glove - and that would be Chelsea.

"Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino's biggest problem is still a need for an out-and-out striker. After PS1billion of spending, where are his 20 goals coming from consistently? So, what is another PS100million to them? That's the going rate for a top player nowadays, and I reckon Brentford would accept PS80m plus add-ons.

"Some may argue Chelsea as a club is a circus. Why would any player, especially one who has been out for a lengthy period, want to get involved there as they hover around mid-table with no European football? But elite strikers have this different sort of mindset and arrogance. Ivan will look at that team, that situation, and think: 'Let me show you why I am the Guv'nor."

Jake Stokes

Will Chelsea make top-four?Betway: Premier League top four finish 2023-2024

Manchester United 6/1

Aston Villa 6/1

Check out more HERE!

Jake Stokes

Sterling claimRaheem Sterling has revealed that he's prepared to follow in Chelsea hero Eden Hazard's footsteps and retire once he's no longer enjoying football. Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the Blues' clash against Tottenham on Monday night, the 28-year-old winger said: "I'm like Hazard as well.

"In terms of once that moment comes that I'm not enjoying football, I feel like that's the moment. You don't want to hate something that gave you so much love. I think you play football until you don't enjoy it anymore."

While Sterling has struggled to reach the lofty heights he once enjoyed at Manchester City since joining Chelsea, he's enjoyed a decent vein of form under Mauricio Pochettino.

Josh Holland

Lukaku hopeRomelu Lukaku has continued his fine form in Rome this season with a 94th minute winner in Jose Mourinho side's 2-1 win over Lecce.

The striker saw a penalty saved by Wladimiro Falcone in the fifth minute on Sunday before Pontus Almqvist put the visitors ahead. Sardar Azmoun equalised in the 91st minute before Lukaku netted the winner.

Lukaku has now scored nine goals in 12 games for Roma. If Chelsea are to recoup some of the PS97.5m they paid for him in 2021, this summer may be the time.

Josh Holland

New defender interestChelsea could make Bayer Leverkusen star Edmond Tapsoba one of their priority targets next summer, according to Caughtoffside.

The defender has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge before and was also the subject of strong interest from Tottenham.

Chelsea are reportedly interested in Bayer Leverkusen defender Edmond Tapsoba (Image: Ina Fassbender)Josh Holland

Osimhen pressureChelsea are reportedly 'increasing pressure' on Napoli for the possible transfer of Victor Osimhen.

That's according to Caughtoffside, who claim sources have said the Blues want to do the leg-work now to ensure they have a chance of signing the Nigerian in the summer.

Three ways to line-up If Pochettino is to make a happy return to north London, he will be relying on his young squad to produce another quality display. Fortunately, Enzo Fernandez and Reece James are back meaning the Blues have a number of options to line-up.

Chelsea will be hoping to have Mykhailo Mudryk fit for today's game with Tottenham (Image: Visionhaus)Josh Holland

Latest injury newsChelsea are back in Premier League action this evening against fierce rivals Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Blues will be looking to become the first team to defeat Ange Postecoglou's side this season.

Spurs have won eight of their first 10 games and will return to the top of the table with victory over Mauricio Pochettino's side. However, Chelsea aren't expected to roll over against their London rivals.

Pochettino has a number of injury concerns to consider upon his return to north London. With a number of long-term absentees, the Blues will be without some key players. So with that said, click here to have a look at the latest Chelsea injury news and possible return dates ahead of the huge game with Tottenham...

Josh Holland

Haaland injuryPep Guardiola has given an update on the fitness of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland after he was withdrawn halfway through his side's victory against Bournemouth on Saturday. The Norway international has been a huge success for City since joining them from Borussia Dortmund.

Josh Holland

Good morningHello and welcome to today's Chelsea live blog.

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